<iframe marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" style="width: 120px; height: 240px;" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=oklahgazet-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B002JVWR4U&fc1=000000&IS2=1 It’s almost as if creator/exec producer Joss Whedon and the rest of the “Dollhouse” gang knew that year two was going to be it for them, so they put all their cards on the table. Improving over its good-but-not-great freshman outing, the sophomore season —? while not […]
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Vengeance
I was only marginally impressed with a recent viewing of Hong Kong director Johnnie To’s “PTU” from 2003, but blown away by his latest, “Vengeance.” It’s masterfully shot and masterfully told, grafting the classic Western revenge plot onto a gritty, urban, modern-day backdrop, making it one of the very best crime stories of the year. […]
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Skeletons
Despite the title, “Skeletons” is not a horror film, but a comedy “? the wry kind in which the British specialize. In this case, Davis and Bennett (Ed Gaughan and Andrew Buckley, respectively) are freelance exorcists “? not of demons, but literally the figurative skeletons in your closet. For example, couples about to be married […]
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Don’t Look Back
To quote Fine Young Cannibals’ grammatically incorrect but nonetheless awesome song, “Baby, baby, don’t look back / It won’t do no good.” True dat, learns nonfiction writer Jeanne (Sophie Marceau) in “Don’t Look Back,” a French/Italian thriller that’s more mind-bending than anything else you’re likely to see all year. Married and a mother of two, […]
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Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XIX
In the not-too-distant future “? next Sunday, A.D., to be exact “? why not curl up on the couch with “Mystery Science Theater 3000: Vol. XIX“? The four-disc DVD set is another feather in Shout! Factory’s continuous cap of random-episode releases of the long-running movie-skewing series. This batch carries two shows from its early, Joel […]
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V: The Complete First Season
<iframe marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" style="width: 120px; height: 240px;" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=oklahgazet-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B002U0KHME&fc1=000000&IS2=1 The last five or six times I’ve gone to the movies, I’ve had to suffer through the trailer for the upcoming alien-invasion film “Skyline.” With each viewing, I get more and more aggravated, but my first response was, “I feel like I’ve seen this before. It looks […]
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Love Ranch
<iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=oklahgazet-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B003Z8ZC0M&fc1=000000&IS2=1 From the opening sequence, it’s apparent “Love Ranch” wants to be another “Casino” or “Boogie Nights.” The problem is, Taylor Hackford is neither Martin Scorsese nor Paul Thomas Anderson. He’s a solid director, but lacking a definable, know-it-when-I-see-it style. Without work worthy of the “auteur” label, middling results are all that’s bound to […]
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Three and Out
Britain’s dark romantic comedy “Three and Out” begins promisingly enough, with a credits sequence set spiritedly to Elvis Costello’s stellar single “Accidents Will Happen.” How quickly fortunes change. As soon as it establishes its plot “? the last-minute twist for which you can guess upon setup “? revolves around sad-sack train operator Paul (Mackenzie Crook, Ragetti […]
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The Brazen Bull
Turns out, everything you need to know in life, you didn’t learn in kindergarten. For example, when an off-his-rocker Michael Madsen wants to know if you the definition of “a brazen bull,” you better damn well have the correct answer! I’ll save you the Googling trouble: It’s a torture device, and it ain’t pretty. “The […]
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The Pacific
As a sister production to “Band of Brothers,” “The Pacific” doesn’t quite live up to the epic success of HBO’s first miniseries on “The Greatest Generation.” But it comes damn close. The similarities are obvious. “Band of Brothers” writer Bruce McKenna spearheaded the 10-part companion series with Stephen Ambrose’s son, Hugh Ambrose, serving as project […]